I changed my G's oil and filter in my driveway last weekend, after having let the dealer do it the first time. As it turned out I was very glad I chose not to bring it back to the dealer for the second change, as the drain plug and filter were both ridiculously tight, a sure sign of an inexperienced or inept mechanic. In fact, the filter was so tight that in the process of removing it one turn's worth of the filter's threads partially sheared off and were protruding into the filter outlet. Needless to say, I was not particularly amused by this turn of events. I've done the vast majority of my own auto maintenance for over 35 years, partly because I love working on cars almost as much as I love driving them, but also because when I do the work myself I know it's going to be done correctly. Given the dealer's dismal performance on what has to be just about the simplest and most routine service procedure there is, I'm going to steer clear of the their service department except for warranty work, which with any luck my car will never need.

The other thing that amazed me about changing the oil was the number of bolts holding the undercover to the underside of the car. I had to remove a grand total of 22 fasteners (21 bolts and one plastic button clip) to completely remove the undercover. I probably could have gotten by with removing only enough of them to drop the back side of the cover, but since it was the first time I'd changed the oil I didn't know how hard it was going to be to get to the filter so I decided to remove the entire thing. Most cars I've worked on before have had 10 or fewer -- what in the name of creation possessed the Nissan/Infiniti engineers to use so many of the things I will never know.

 

I found another dealer boo-boo when I changed my oil this past weekend. They left the old copper crush washer on and added a larger, generic-looking plastic gasket.

I took out all the fasteners but the forwardmost ones (just behind the bumper) and let the undercover hang down. There was plenty of access.

 

I use a cordles drill with a nut driver and torque-limiting chuck to remove all those damn bolts... makes it a lot quicker. Then, tighten by hand.